A Merlin was perched on a branch of a dead tree near the head of the marsh early this morning. While it might seem early for the arrival of this northern falcon, I have seen this bird at the end of August or in early September almost every year; I think it follows the Tree Swallow migration which is at its peak right now. This was a dark bird, heavily streaked on the breast, somewhat flat-headed (as Merlins tend to be) and with a barely visible cheek mark. It was doing its toilette while remaining alert and constantly looking around -- whether for prey or for predator I don't know. Strangely enough, other local birds including several Goldfinches came quite near without showing signs of either fear or anger. A couple of Blue Jays came in to check it out but, after calling for assistance a few times (and not getting any response from other Blue Jays), simply took off. The Merlin was openly exposed and yet the expected anti-raptor ganging up that occurs with owls and larger hawks did not occur. Do the smaller birds not recognize a threat?
There were reports of pelagics blown in close to the shore by Hermine so Eileen Schwinn, Lorna and myself took a spin down Dune Road to see what we could see. What we found was (1) a very wet Dune Road inundated at high tide, (2) a spectacularly stormy ocean with breakers crashing onto the upper beach, (3) a lot of Cormorants, almost all heading west, (4) many Sanderlings, almost all heading east, (5) quite a few Tree Swallows heading in both directions, (6) many gulls of the usual persuasions, (7) a few very distant pelagic possibiiities, none of which were easily identifiable even with the use of spotting scopes. Ah, well, better luck next hurricane.
Eric Salzman
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